Many of the chefs we talk to will credit their families for introducing them to cooking—whether it's a story about spending the weekends learning a prized family recipe or an evening tradition of making dinner for everyone. Giacomo Sgroi, chef and owner of Nonna Sulina's Sicilian Kitchen & Grill in Bethlehem, can actually pinpoint his love for cooking and for food to one specific moment in his life.
“There are not many food purveyors in Sicily, where I grew up, like there are here in the United States, so as a child my father and I had a tradition when it came to buying the ingredients for his family's oceanside restaurant in Sicily for the food auction,” Sgroi says. “He would wake me up at 2:30 in the morning to drive to the peninsula of the island. I would sleep in the car until he would wake me up again with a warm, buttery croissant stuffed with Nutella. My father would put me on his shoulders and with our combined height and my arms, we would bid on the freshest ingredients, from fish just caught that morning to beautiful produce. I remember just turning to my dad saying, ‘This is my life; this is what I love to do.'”
Nowadays, Sgroi can be found in the kitchen of Nonna Sulina's, which opened on March 12, 2020. The restaurant was lovingly named after both of his grandmothers, to whom he also attributes so much of his love and appreciation for food. “So often when I am cooking I am listening to the voices of my ancestors in my head. I don't follow recipes or measure anything out,” he says. “It's that feeling and that guidance from them. A little bit of this and a little bit of that with a ton of love added in.”
Here, he is sharing his Chilean Sea Bass with Montalcino Sauce: perfectly cooked fish covered in a fragrant, decadent sauce with pine nuts, crab and wine. This particular dish is part of his family's Seven Fishes Feast that they do over Christmas every year.
Sgroi says his days off are spent concocting new delicious sauces and dinners. “My family and I live right next to my parents. We share a backyard with an outside kitchen, grills and smokers—you name it, we have it,” he says. “You will find my father and I sitting together dreaming up new ideas and flavors.”
His love of food has certainly contributed to the success of Nonna Sulina's. Opening their doors mere days before a global pandemic, and navigating a way through it, has made it a very popular spot for dining and takeout. Customers can even order Sgroi's family's festive Seven Fishes for takeout on Christmas Eve.
“The only thing that I don't like about being in the kitchen is I miss my guests' first bite,” he says. “That little dance people do when they love their meal and the inevitable smile that will follow after the digging in.”
5000 Bath Pike, Bethlehem | 610.419.1051 | nonnasulina.com
Montalcino Sauce
Ingredients
- ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
- 1 ¼ red onion, sliced
- 1 ½ Tbsp. red/golden raisins
- 1 Tbsp. roasted pine nuts
- 4 large basil leaves, sliced thin
- ® cup crushed and peeled Italian tomatoes with basil
- ½ cup pinot grigio
- ® cups white clam sauce
- ¼ cup of water
- Pinch of salt, pepper and sugar
- ¼ cup jumbo lump crabmeat
Instructions
Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Heat olive oil in a medium skillet over medium heat. Add onions and sauté until light brown. Add raisins, pine nuts, basil leaves and crushed Italian tomatoes. Stir frequently and simmer for two minutes. Add white wine, clam sauce, water, salt, pepper, sugar and crabmeat. Stir frequently and simmer for two more minutes, then set aside.
Chilean Sea Bass
Ingredients
- 2 8 oz. Chilean sea bass portions
- 1 8 oz. stick of butter
- 1 Tbsp. olive oil
- 2 cloves of garlic
- 2 sprigs of thyme, plus more for garnish
Instructions
Pat fish dry with a towel to remove excess water. Season with salt and pepper on both sides. In a medium skillet over medium heat, melt the butter and olive oil until golden. Place the fish gently in frying pan. Add garlic and thyme. Cook fish for 2–3 minutes on each side, depending on thickness, until golden brown, while continuously spooning butter over fish. When done, remove fish and place in skillet with sauce and spoon sauce over fish until well coated. Add a few sprigs of thyme on top and put in preheated oven for 10–12 minutes. (Oven temperatures and cooking times vary. Start checking at eight minutes for doneness. Sauce will thicken when sufficiently cooked.) Serve immediately.
